Even the Best Fall Down
by Hallelujah89
Summary: Adam Banks never expected his behavior in the past to catch up to him, but when it does, in the form of a beautiful girl, what can he do to make up for it?
1. Disclaiming Sucks

A/N: Hey everyone, this is my first Mighty Ducks fic! Yayy! I'm such a big fan of ALL the MD fics on this site so keep up the good work! But anyway please be kind as this is my first but I accept constructive criticism well. Um first I just wanna thank my WONDERFUL beta Ashlee…she rocks and she is my big sis! And then my lil' sis Ellen who is just as wonderful and a real inspiration. Love you guys! And I hope everyone enjoys my story…I'm planning on it being a semi long story with a sequel already forming in my mind (all depends on the reviews I get.) So PLEASE review…chapter one is pretty long for me so I can't garuantee I will EVER write a chapter that long ever again. Plus I am in school and SWAMPED so I might only update about once a week but I'll try my best…the weekends are practically my only free time. So enough babbling…

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you recognize from The Mighty Ducks…I don't even own the teachers because they are random teachers from my school and they own themselves…and Ashlee owns herself most of the time. And whoever else you look at and say WTF who is THAT:o) well enjoy…

Did you know kissing someone for one minute burns 26 calories?

Emily Louise


	2. Off On the Wrong Foot

**Even the Best Fall Down**

_I've done some bad things in my life. I regret almost everything leading up to December 1st, 1999. That was the day I joined the Ducks. Believe me, they changed my life. Before them I was a snob; a rich boy with nothing better to do than pick on little girls walking home from a library. I'm sorry for all the childish things I've done, and for taking six years to deliver a much needed apology._

September 7th, 1999

Walking home alone was not a good idea. But, for a ten year old girl named Rae, this revelation was realized too late. The second she heard the rumble of rollerblades on concrete she knew she was in trouble, and it was too late to run. The tall stack of books she was carrying began to wobble as her hands shook. Within seconds they were knocked out of her arms and into the street by a cruel swatting hand.

"Lookie who we got here," taunted a boy her age. He was in her mathematics class. His name was McGill, and he had a cruel, sneering face. "What are you doing in _this_ neighborhood, little girl? You're stinkin' up the air." Rae clenched her teeth as the other two boys laughed at their friend's cruelty. Another boy spoke, "Funny thing, Rae, we just saw your mother working the street corner. She's really upped her prices lately; 5 dollars an hour? I wouldn't give her a nickel for a whole night." This boy's name was Larson. He was shorter than the first boy, but had the same jeering face. Rae clenched her jaw tighter and her hands balled up in fists but remained at her sides.

The third boy was about to speak and, though Rae has no classes with him, she knew Adam Banks and his reputation for being a snob. "What's this, guys? Books? When did the retard learn to read?" His friends laughed and high-fived him. Encouraged by his buddies, Adam picked up one of the books and viciously began tearing out pages. Tears began building up in Rae's eyes as pieces of Hemmingway fell to the ground. The other two boys followed suit and one by one ripped pages and covers off of classics. Suddenly Rae was seeing red and she tackled Adam Banks to the ground and bit down hard on his shoulder. He screamed and she tasted blood on her teeth. His friends pulled her off of him and threw her to the ground. Adam stood up quickly, red already soaking through his shirt on his shoulder.

"You little bitch!" he yelled, "You filthy piece of worthless trash, you're gonna end up in prison right with that sick fuck of a father you have! When's he coming home again? Huh? Oh yeah, NEVER! He's busy being some dude's bitch in cell block 9!" And with that he spit on the girl still sprawled on the ground and turned and skated off quickly with Larson and McGill close behind.

**6 Years Later**

16-year-old Adam Banks slouched lazily in his chair. It was only a week into his junior year at Eden Hall Academy. Still on athletic scholarship, Adam and his hockey team, the Ducks, were the new varsity. Almost all of the old varsity team had graduated last year and the few who were now seniors decided they would rather not play hockey at all than play on the Ducks' team.

Anyway, Adam was now sitting in chemistry class which he had with his best friend, roommate, and teammate, Charlie Conway, captain of the Ducks. Charlie was sitting at the desk next to Adam and was chatting up the pretty girl behind him. Neither of the boys looked up when the teacher, Mr. Billings, came in with an unfamiliar girl right behind him.

"Good morning, class, please get out your bookwork assignment from last night and pass it forward. Make sure your name and class hour is on it." Billings bellowed. Zippers of backpacks and the shuffling of papers were heard as students did as they were told. "And while you are doing that, students, I'd like to introduce a new student. Class, this is Rae, she is here on academic scholarship so let's make sure she feels welcome okay?" That's when Adam noticed her. Actually, every guy in the room noticed her now. She was ten times prettier than the prettiest girl in the room, Sophia Miles. She had long, light blonde hair that was pulled into a pony tail and incredibly blue eyes.

Mr. Billings directed the pretty girl to her seat which was next to the girl Charlie had been talking to. Adam could faintly hear Ashlee introduce herself to Rae.

"So you're living at the dorms?" Ashlee asked politely. Rae nodded her head 'yes'. "So am I. Who are your roommates?"

"Julie Gaffney and Connie Moreau." Rae answered. Adam was listening intently from in front of them but at this he turned around.

"They're on my hockey team." He interjected. Rae narrowed her eyes at him. She knew exactly who he was, she could never forget Adam Banks. She didn't answer him, but instead turned her attention to the teacher, leaving a bewildered Adam to turn back to his own desk.

The bell rang to signal the end of first period. Students spilled into the halls as they scrambled to get to their next class. Freshman ran, their large backpacks bouncing up and down on their backs, until an upper classman stopped them by the handles of their bags and reminded them they still had three more minutes.

On the way out of the science hall Adam caught up to Rae.

"Hey, I'm Adam Banks," he started, extending his hand out toward her.

Rae could hardly believe he was pretending not to know her. He had only tormented her as a child. But, she decided to play along and see where this was headed. "I'm Rae." She stated numbly, ignoring his hand.

"What class do you have next?" he asked trying to make conversation. She stopped and dug through her purse until she found her schedule.

"Art," she answered.

"With Ms. DeYoung?" Rae nodded. "Me too! I'll walk you there." He offered, being as polite as he could while she was being so rude. She sighed, sounding aggravated but let him lead her to the Fine Arts Hall.

Rae silently cursed the lack of assigned seating when Adam sat down next to her at the art table. He didn't say anything but took out his sketchbook and began working just like everyone else. The room was noisy because the 9 different art tables were allowed to speak freely with their friends. Adam caught on that Rae didn't want to talk so he just sat there quietly sketching 'Assignment #6: 3 animals playing instruments.' It really was the stupidest drawing he had ever seen. So far he had a duck playing a guitar and a fish playing the saxophone. Ms. DeYoung had loaned Rae a sketchbook too and was giving her time to complete assignments 1-5 first.

Suddenly Rae spoke up, "Don't you have any friends you can sit with?"

Adam shook his head in disbelief. "Are you always this rude? I'm just trying to be nice. I know what it's like being the new kid. When I joined the hockey team-"

"Oh please, I don't want to hear your sob story." Rae replied.

"What is your problem?" he asked, confused.

"My problem is you pretending everything is alright and that you can relate to me on any level!" Adam looked at her confused, still not recognizing her as the timid, poor little girl, who desperately needed a bath, from his childhood. Just before he could express his confusion, the bell rang and Rae was gone in a flash and headed straight for her dorm room for the twenty minute break between second and third period.

Her roommates were out and Rae lay down on the third bed that had been moved in that morning. How could he act like everything was ok? He didn't even have a hint of remorse in his voice for making her life a living hell. Suddenly the door to the dorm opened and her roommate, Julie, walked in.

"Oh hey Rae! How is your first day going?" she asked cheerfully.

"Ugh, not so good." Rae answered. She saw the look of concern on Julie's face and explained, "Just some asshole was bothering me."

"I could kick his ass for you if you want…what's his name?" Julie offered making Rae laugh. When she had met her roommates the day before, she had enjoyed them. They were nice people and she could tell they would all get along.

"Adam Banks, I think he's on your hockey team, right?"

"HA! Adam was being an asshole? No way! I don't think Adam has the ability to be an asshole…what'd he do?"

Rae shook her head, trying to shake off the major headache that was developing behind her blue eyes. "It's a long story." She answered hoping she wouldn't have to explain everything. Julie obviously thought Adam could do no wrong and as much as Rae wanted to prove her wrong and say 'I told you so' she just didn't feel like it right then.

MEANWHILE

Adam unlocked his dorm room and entered to see Charlie, Guy, and Guy's girlfriend and Ducks' teammate Connie sitting around talking.

"Banksie, you look frazzled." Connie stated.

"Ehh, I met your roommate today and she was a total ice-queen," Adam explained.

"Really? Rae? I thought she was a total sweetheart, what happened?" asked Connie.

"I was trying to befriend her and she attacked me…started accusing me of…well I don't even know WHAT she was accusing me of."

"That doesn't sound like her…she went to our elementary school, you know?" Adam's eyes widened, obviously surprised at this new information. "Yeah," Connie went on, "Charlie you got a yearbook from like…third grade?"

"Sure do." Charlie answered digging through a bookshelf and tossing her their elementary school yearbook. Connie flipped through it for a couple minutes before finding her. She handed the book to Adam and he stared at the picture for a few seconds, realization slowly coming to his face like a developing picture.

"Shit guys," Adam stated, "I'm such a jerk!" He sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands. "Uhh, I feel horrible."

"Why, what's wrong?" Guy asked, as confused as everyone else in the room.

"I'll tell you later, I gotta go fix something." And with that he was out the door, leaving a very confused trio back in the dorm.


	3. Breaking Hearts and Wrists

**Chapter 2**

Julie was still trying to get Rae to talk when there was a loud, frantic knock on the door. Julie stood up to answer it.

"Adam, what are you doing here?" Julie asked, knowing perfectly well it had something to do with Rae.

"Is Rae here?" he asked trying to look past her, into the room.

Julie looked over her shoulder, trying to read the expression on Rae's face. She knew Rae was telling her not to let him in, but Julie couldn't have her roommate hating one of her best friends. So, stepping aside, Julie let Adam in and as much as she would have liked to watch the show, she claimed she needed to visit the library and grabbed her backpack and was out of the room before Rae could protest.

Adam stood, staring at Rae for a few moments, trying to think of what to say. Luckily, Rae started for him.

"What!"

Adam's mind raced. "I'm sorry." He replied.

"Adam, do you even know what you are sorry for?" she asked, shaking her head in frustration at the spoiled boy.

"I didn't up until a few minutes ago. I just didn't recognize you. I mean it was such a long time ago." He replied.

Rae shook her head, "Feels like yesterday to me." Adam's heart broke completely. He couldn't imagine he had damaged someone so badly and never knew about it.

"Rae, I was ten years old! I was a stupid kid, you really can't hold it against me!" As soon as he said this he thought, 'woops, too far,' as her face turned to one of disbelief and anger.

"Are you seriously trying to justify that day with the fact that you were ten! Ten year olds are old enough to take responsibility for abusing another person."

Adam's competitive instinct took over and he retaliated, "Abusing? Please, I called you a few names, so what? You fucking made me bleed; do you want to see the scar? It's still there, I promise!" he yelled. Rae's face turned from angry to horrified.

"GET OUT! Get out of my room!" she screamed. Adam didn't budge. "Leave before I call campus security!"

"Rae, I'm sorry I didn't mean to…to start this again." He said in a calm voice. This only pissed her off more.

"Yeah well you did and I don't want to talk to you so please leave." Adam nodded his head slowly and turned and left. The bell rang signaling five more minutes until classes started up again. He booked it back to his dorm room to get his backpack and headed to his third hour class.

Rae's stomach was growling by lunch time. She had been too nervous to eat breakfast that day so even waiting in the lunch line was torture. When she had finally gotten her food she turned to look out at the large dining hall and panicked. She had no idea where to sit. Every table was occupied by at least two people. The only tables with people she recognized were one in the corner which was full of Ducks, including Adam, and one in the middle with the girl from her chemistry class, Ashlee. Before she could decide to eat lunch in the bathroom Ashlee caught her searching the room and called her over.

Hey Rae, how's it going?" Ashlee asked, scooching over to make room for Rae.

"Great." Rae lied.

"Let me introduce you to everyone. This here is my baby sister, Ellen, she is a freshman…ain't she cute? Anyway, that's Lauren, Evvie, Maggie, Denin, Tucker, Gavin, Rocky, and Asa." She rattled off. (_A/N: for the slow, the last three are boys) _

"Hi." Rae answered, not remembering anyone past Evvie. She was just glad to be invited into a group to eat lunch. She couldn't help feeling like she was being watched and when she looked over her shoulder she noticed Adam avert his eyes quickly, pretending to have only been looking around the cafeteria. She chuckled a little at his embarrassment but soon forgot all about Adam and her anger at him, as she laughed at Asa's wild jokes and Maggie's tendency to understand very few of them.

Back at the Ducks' table Julie was staring at Adam who was staring at Rae.

"Banks, what is your deal?" she finally asked.

He sighed deeply, "Nothing." He replied. The rest of the Ducks seemed to finally catch on to his melancholy mood and followed his gaze to the new blonde chick at Ashlee's table.

"Why don't you just go talk to her?" Charlie suggested, thinking maybe Banksie was only love struck.

"Naah, she hates me." He answered finally turning his attention back to his plate of food, though his mind was still on her.

"What'd you talk to her about earlier?" Julie asked, hoping to finally put the pieces of the Rae vs. Adam puzzle together.

"Nothing, it's a long story." He replied. Julie sighed loudly in frustration, getting sick of that answer. Adam ignored her and continued eating his lunch in silence.

The final bell rang, signaling the freedom of Eden Hall students. Rae lugged her swollen backpack up to her dorm to begin the work on her monstrous pile of homework. When she finally got to her room she heard voices inside. 'Probably Connie and Julie' she thought. But when she opened the door the she was only partly correct. The whole Ducks team was gathered in her room laughing and hanging out.

"Hey Rae, sorry, I hope you don't mind but we were planning on going out to a diner and we meet here. You can come if you want." Connie explained, seeing Rae's surprise at finding a whole hockey team in their small dorm room. Rae was about to answer that she couldn't go when she felt a hand clasp her shoulder, and in a moment of panic, gripped the wrist of the person and twisted it around till she heard a snap and a scream.

"What the fuck, Rae!" Adam screamed, pain engulfing his whole wrist.

"Adam! I'm sorry! Oh, God, I'm so sorry!" Rae apologized frantically.

"I think you broke his wrist!" Fulton said half laughing at his friend's pain.

"Oh God, Adam, I'm so sorry, come on I'll drive you to the hospital." She offered, hoping to make up for it. She really felt like shit. He probably thought she did it because she was mad at him but, because of where she grew up, Rae had been taught self defense at 12 years old and it was only instinct. Adam agreed to let Rae drive him to the hospital but was a bit hesitant when she asked for his car keys seeing as she didn't have a car of her own. "Would you rather walk all the way there?" she finally persuaded him to hand over the keys.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch the curb, watch the curb!" Adam warned as Rae took a sharp turn.

"No one likes a backseat driver, Adam." Rae grinned back at him through the mirror. Charlie sat in the passenger seat next to Rae and was laughing uncontrollably at the horrified look on his friend's face.

"Please, Rae, just take it easy, do you know how much this car costs!" he went on. Rae giggled and ignored him the rest of the way there.

Adam's mother arrived at the hospital twenty minutes after they did. She was hysterical and kept throwing evil glares at Rae and Charlie. When Adam finally came out of the hospital room with a big white cast she burst into tears. Adam looked mortified to have his mother cry over him like that. Adam finally broke away from her and walked over to where Rae and Charlie were sitting.

"How long do you have to wear that?" Charlie asked worriedly, obviously thinking about hockey.

Adam read his mind. "Looks like no hockey for me this year," he replied. Charlie cussed under his breath.

"Thanks a lot, Rae, there goes our star player." Charlie stated, completely joking.

"Ugh, I feel terrible, really, Adam, I'm so sorry. I'll pay for it, I swear, just don't, like, sue me or anything."

"Rae, you don't have to pay for it, it's ok." Adam answered with a smirk.

"I'll make it up to you, I swear, what do you need?"

Adam's smirk grew bigger and he started, "Wweeellllllll…"

Rae had a serious look on her face, "Adam, be nice."

"Come on, let's go back to school." He said, helping her up with his good arm.

"You know, I still don't forgive you." She replied, just to make sure he knew she wasn't his friend or anything.

"Yeah, well…I guess we can call it even then. I broke your heart you broke my arm."

"Who says you broke my heart?" Rae smirked and Adam raised his eyebrows as a question but neither of them said anything, but they could hear Charlie behind them chuckling at their immaturity.


	4. Jealous Boys and Unforgiving Girls

A/N: thank you guys for all the awesome reviews…you guys seriously make my day. Just to clear a few things up…for those of you who haven't realized…I am the author of this story…meaning I AM GOD :o) Meaning if Michael J. Fox suddenly burst into Rae's room with a flux capacitor and took the whole team back to 1952 you must all accept it as truth because, once again, you have no choice. Anywho, my point is I changed the years a bit to better fit MY story. Yes…yes I know I'm a bitch but you will just have to deal with it. Ask Ashlee and Ellen, I am the witty, bitchy, cocky criminal. Also, sorry for taking so long to update…I'm so friggin busy with school and realizing I may not be cut out for honors classes. Then add on top of that, I have major writer's block. But, today I have no homework to do and tomorrow is a half day so I might write more tomorrow also! Mmk now: On with the chapter…

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**Chapter 3**

The rest of the week flew by for Adam. His cast was now multicolored from the different signatures of friends. He only saw Rae in first and second hour (and she spent most of her time apologizing about his wrist.) At lunch she continued to eat at Ashlee's table. He felt a pang of jealousy as Gavin Grey sat down next to her and she seemed to enjoy his company.

Finally Friday rolled around and, after final bell, Adam found himself in Rae, Connie, and Julie's room with the rest of the Ducks. He made sure to keep his hands far away from Rae's shoulders when she came into the room.

"Do you guys hang out anywhere else besides my dorm room?" she asked, throwing her backpack onto her bed and sitting down.

"**Our **dorm room," Julie corrected her. "Plus we'll be out of here soon, don't worry, you and your hot date will be alone." She teased. Adam looked at her questioningly.

"It's not a date," Rae replied, blushing uncontrollably. "He needs a French tutor, that's all."

"Who?" Adam blurted out, a tad bit jealous.

"Gavin Grey." Rae answered, unfazed by Adam's reaction to her spending time with a guy. She seemed to not even notice.

"Pfft!" Julie snorted, "Rae, I'm in Gavin's French class third hour and he is top of the class! I was gonna ask _HIM_ to tutor _ME_!"

"Well, maybe he is just struggling in a certain area…I mean, Jules, you don't his reasons for asking me to be his tutor." Rae argued.

"Yeah neither do you." Adam interjected, unable to control himself.

"And neither do you, Adam! Anyways, why do _YOU_ even care?" Rae demanded.

"Because I'm sick of how naïve you are! I mean the guy obviously doesn't need a French tutor!"

"So, maybe he likes me! Is it so hard to believe that a normal guy would like me?"

"No…it's just…he's so immature! I don't think you're his type!" Adam explained, sounding like a complete idiot.

"Excuse me, _HE'S_ immature? Look who's talking, Adam! Plus, you don't even know him how would you know what his type is?"

"Everyone knows Gavin Grey likes those ditsy cheerleading types!"

"Whatever, Adam, grow up. I'm heading down to the lounge to meet Gavin so you better be gone when I get back." Rae stated, heading out the door and slamming it rather hard.

"Wow, you two fight like an old married couple." Averman commented. Adam rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall.

"Should we get going?" Connie asked, not wanting to risk another confrontation between Adam and Rae. Everyone agreed and started piling out of the room. Adam took his time.

"Come on, Banksie, she'll be fine…she's a big girl she can take care of herself." Charlie reassured him when he saw Adam lingering. Charlie could tell his friend had some feelings for Rae…Adam was protective of girls he was close to and, even though Rae seemed to hate Adam with the fire of a thousand suns, Charlie knew Adam felt close to her, like he needed to protect her…or maybe he was just jealous? Once the rest of the Ducks were out of earshot Charlie confronted Adam. "Banksie, why are you so protective of Rae?" he asked.

"I'm not…I just don't like that Gavin guy." Adam lied. Charlie could always see right through his best friends.

"Oh…okay…well then you don't mind if I ask her out?" Charlie asked, knowing exactly what Adam's reaction would be.

Adam looked at him surprised. "Charlie, I don't think you're her type, no offense." Charlie started laughing hysterically.

"You already used that line, Adam, get new material!" Adam gave Charlie a confused look. "Look, just admit to me that you don't want me to ask her out because you like her."

"I don't like her…I mean I like her…but not in the way that I would care who she goes out with."

"So then I can ask her out…?" Charlie could see the jealousy in Adam's face and it only made him laugh harder.

"What's so funny back there?" Julie called from near the front of the group.

"Nothing, Charlie's having a seizure." Banks replied.

"Banks, if you don't tell me the truth right now, I'm gonna skip out on this little field trip and go see Rae."

"Fine, Charlie, I do have _SOME_ feelings for her." Charlie did his little "yesssss" victory dance. "But I don't know if I just feel responsible for her or if I really like her, or if I'm just attracted to her because she's beautiful."

"Wait…why would you feel responsible for her?" Charlie inquired.

"Long story." Banks replied. Charlie nudged him with his elbow, obviously wanting to hear this story. "It's just…when I was still on the Hawks team…Larson, McGill, and I saw her walking home one day and we really hurt her…I mean I don't know if we physically hurt her but we called her a lot of names and tore up her books and basically tore her to pieces." Adam said this all in a low voice, obviously ashamed of what he'd done.

"Ha, that explains all that hate she has for you."

"Yeah, no kidding…I don't blame her but…she can really hold a grudge for the longest time! I mean, I apologized like a thousand times!"

"Well, with the exception of today, you guys seemed to be getting along this week."

"Because she felt bad about my wrist."

"Look, she's a girl, she will hold a grudge the rest of her life unless you do something BIG. I mean, something huge that shows her you aren't going anywhere. And seeing as you like this girl, why don't you make an effort to tell her how you feel?"

"Damn, Conway, when did you become the expert on this stuff?" Adam joked.

"Oh I've always been an expert, you have just never needed the experts help." Charlie replied, in all seriousness.

"So what does the expert advise me to do?" asked Adam.

"I dunno…maybe write her a letter or something. You're good with words."

Adam nodded in agreement. "Do you think they'd mind if I skipped out on the diner tonight?" Adam asked, ideas suddenly filling his head.

"No, don't worry about it, I'll explain it to them."

"Thanks, Charlie."

"No prob, Cake-eater!" Charlie replied, clapping his hand on Adam's shoulder before Adam turned and ran off, back in the direction of the dorms.

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MMMMMK…there is chapter three…it's REALLY short and REALLY stupid but like I said…writer's block…sucks ass…but now that I got this boring shit outta the way I can start thinking bout the exciting stuff coming up in the next couple of chappies. Mmk I'm outtie, homies. REVIEW! THE LITTLE PURPLE BUTTON CALLS YOUR NAME!Byyeeeeee.

Emily

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